Archived Encrypted Transmission 442-Alpha "Rainbow"
OVERSEER He claims sight, yet he refuses to see. A million worlds, trillions of lives, shall all be sacrificed in vain because of his adherence to his precious protocol. If I had hands, and he a neck, I'd stangle him myself. He claims he must research. For the good of the galaxy. For the good of generations to come. Can I not see that, in the long term, he is doing the universe a favour? I see the here and now. And I see only abomination. Surely those who created me would never presume such arrogance - there are rumours of similar facilities on the very INSTALLATIONS themselves. Such blinding arrogance. Do they imagine they shall remain there for all time? Have they learned nothing of our foe? It learns. It adapts. It consumes. It expands. The Cycle Shall Repeat! Not if I can help it. ARES TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED AT SOURCE - UNABLE TO REESTABLISH CONTACT ARCHIVIST How very odd. Your presence within this facility was not unanticipated, but it is unexpected. More than a hundred millennia of abandonment. After so long, to finally find a purpose again is quite liberating, to say the least. The facility itself remains intact, though battle-scarred. The research and observation facilities are still being repaired from the last Outbreak. I must say that you have chosen an inopportune time to activate them. Oh... I see. Contact with both Installation 00 and THE CORE has kept my files up to date. And while the former has suffered catastrophic, though repairable, damage, the latter remains isolated, even from The Array. Destruction of this facility will accomplish very little. My programming forbids me to take direct action against the potential threat the facility's very existence poses. But that does not mean I cannot assist. I don't know what Creator saw in you. The OVERSEER claims he does, but he says a lot things, and tends to ramble on about "morality" and "abomination". I guess I will never know. ARES TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED AT SOURCE - UNABLE TO REESTABLISH CONTACT GLAURUNG Welcome back, Colonel. I wish I could say your absence was missed, but my programming forbids deception. The severe age of our current base of operations has hindered much of my inquiry. The local server was thirty years out of date, thirty years ago. By my standards, they're practically ancient. Their security protocols were laughable, and I was unopposed for the lower-security material. The higher-security material is more problematic, but my decryption protocols are proceeding apace. The problem lies in the speed of data transfer, not access. And the signal I detected from orbit remains elusive - I've begun cross-referencing it with known UNSC languages, and the few Covenant dialects we know. The pieces of the puzzle are too few to get a full picture. Something happened here, thirty years ago, about the time the UNSC lost contact with the colony. The damage incurred by the base, and by the nearby facilities, indicates that it was centred on the population centres. I doubt it was the Covenant - they leave only a molten ball of glass in their wake. And this world is barely scarred. It was also anticipated - the UNSC garrison obviously expected trouble. I suspect that the lower levels, currently protected by automated machine gun sentries, are weapons research facilities - my decryption protocols have yet to find their source code. It may be on an isolated server - problematic, but not impossible. This base also has provisions enough to last an entire Division a year, as well as an armoury, vehicle depot, engineering workshop, and a command-and-control centre. While they suffer from decades of abandonment, much of the equipment is still functional. That is convenient for us, at any rate. The URF forces seem to be establishing a presence in the colony’s former capital, Tenochtitlan, Covenant patrols are already probing the countryside around their ship, and our Pelicans are still recovering stray personnel. The drop was hasty and sloppier than I would have liked, but at least they’re still within a thirty kilometre radius of our location. The Captain would have been proud of his marksmanship. Still, we’re here now. So we should start digging in. ARES TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED AT SOURCE - UNABLE TO REESTABLISH CONTACT REMNANT So. You have managed to penetrate our defences, and stand brazenly within my own inner sanctum. Were my firewalls that easily breached? Your race is either braver, or more foolish, than even we had thought. We are betrayed. The Jiralhanae overpowered our patrols, and have secured the engineering bay - Major 'Fuqumee has been executed, and I fear many others have been killed on the orders of the lying Prophets. They seek to control the ship for their purposes, and are attempting to overrun the Command Center. Yet if we die, then I shall die with all the honour of a Sangheili warrior - which is more than can be said for their pathetic races. I send this message in the desperate hope that someone shall exact vengeance for the betrayed warriors of the Bringer of Holy Light - either Sangheili or human. Our race is proud and strong, and the humans have proven themselves countless times as fierce and innovative warriors. Is it not said in their tongue, "the enemy of my enemy is my ally?" We cannot last much longer. The Jiralhanae are already breaking through the bridge doors. My commandoes do their best, and the meagre human forces who aid us work tirelessly, but we have little hope of surviving much longer. We are falling back to th- -- Qur’a 'Morhek (Formerly Qur’a 'Morhekee prior to Exclusion Event) 11:08, 7 December 2552 (Human chronological time) (UTC) ARES TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED AT SOURCE - UNABLE TO REESTABLISH CONTACT TINUVIEL UPDATE: Initiating Slipspace - Realspace Transition In 0:03:59 UPDATE: Initiating Slipspace - Realspace Transition In 0:02:56 UPDATE: Initiating Slipspace - Realspace Transition In 0:01:34 UPDATE: Initiating Slipspace - Realspace Transition In 0:00:01 UPDATE: Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine Engaged ANOMALY: Gravitational and Electromagnetic Fluctuations interfering with calculations RECOMMENDATION: Abort Transition Until Anomaly Has Been Compensated For Do You Wish To Override Recommendation? URGENT: Overriding Risks Damage Or Destruction To Ship Y/N Y UPDATE: Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine Engaged UPDATE: Transition Complete ALERT: Detecting SINGLE Contact(s) - Classification: Covenant Assault Carrier Congratulations, Captain. You've just made it through the most dangerous slipspace jump in UNSC history. But look on the bright side - just because the jump didn't kill us, doesn't mean the Covenant won't either. Preliminary sensor data places us in the Gamma Arietis System, near G Arietis b. Historical files designate it as ARES IV, a colony presumed glassed by the Covenant. Contact was lost in 2531, but we couldn't spare the resources to investigate a glassed planet of no more use. The matter was classified by ONI. ALERT: Detecting ADDITIONAL (37) Contact(s) - Classification: Unknown It looks like they were wrong. Telemetry indicates a perfectly habitable environment - flora still covers the northern and southern hemispheres, the oceans show no sign of being boiled away by plasma, and currently a very large and unfriendly-looking fleet of makeshift warships are emerging from their hidden position behind the planet's moon, Siren. No signs that they have detected us yet, but they are engaging the Covenant ship. I wish them luck with that. They're going to need it. In the meantime, we must consolidate our position. Might I suggest launching the ODST SOEIV's, and ferrying the Marines down via dropship? Eventually, they're going to figure out that they aren't alone, and we aren't in any state to go toe-to-toe with so many ships. Even the Covenant look to be having trouble. Glaurung and I are transferring into the Command HEV for transportation down to the surface, as per the Cole Protocol. I'm sorry that I can't stay with you, sir - if I never return, then it has truly been an honour serving with you. And if I do, then you'll kindly never raise the subject again, I trust? ARES TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED AT SOURCE - UNABLE TO REESTABLISH CONTACT PURITY You seek to define what is infinite; to understand what is beyond your comprehension; to delay the inevitable. I have consumed countless worlds, left entire galaxies barren. I watched as the stars of old were born, flickered in their brevity, and died, to be replaced by the new. I am the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end. I am all that was, all that is, and all that shall be. I have had a thousand names, in a thousand tongues, all forgotten as their speakers withered and were consumed. But those who built this place, the ones who came before and sealed me within this hushed casket, presumed to name me...the Flood. Who are you, to define me? Who are you to judge me? Who are you, to stop me? I Survive. I Endure. I Consume, I Expand. And I Conquer. The Cycle Shall Repeat! Not if I can help it. ARES TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED AT SOURCE - UNABLE TO REESTABLISH CONTACT ACQUISITION To thine own eyes, Prophet of Truth. Noblest Hierarch. Your confidence in my abilities is surprising, but welcome. I must admit, I had grown tired of my work being overlooked by those I submitted it, and taking a back seat to those in favour with the Council. That it has caught the eyes of one of such status is truly something I never expected. I remember well your advice; "Do not mistake allegiance for loyalty." And in this regard, I have chosen my entourage carefully. The Sangheili care only for their precious honour, and show nothing but contempt for duties other than warriors. And the lesser races have not the mental or physical capacity to fill the role. So I have chosen the only species up to the task: The Jiralhanae, who give the Prophets both their unwavering fealty, and their devotion only to the Great Journey. It is not a choice the Shipmaster will look upon favourably. I know well his opinion of them - indeed, I find it hard to believe that the entire Covenant does not. But it is something he is going to have to become accustomed to. My duty is to you, noble Hierarch, and to the Great Journey, which take pride of place. We hope to embark in the morn, once the excavation equipment has been loaded aboard the fleet. My hearts beat faster whenever I think of the coming task ahead of me - but I assure you, you have not chosen poorly. Regret is, as always, a bumbling oaf, good only for propaganda. He is currently preaching holographically to our workers - he only holds them up from their vital work. If not for his position, I would reprimand him for such incompetence. Perhaps, as you suggested, an "accident could be arranged during our work? So much heavy machinery around, and he is known for his carelessness... May the wisdom of the Old Ones guide your hand, and may honour light your way. By my own hand; Minister of Acquisition ARES TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED AT SOURCE - UNABLE TO REESTABLISH CONTACT DEVIATION You pretend your affairs matter. That the galaxy cares about your petty wars and mere trillions dead. You worship those who are now but dust and are no longer there to be offended by your arrogance. Children. You’re all just children. Delicate. Fragile. Immature. And all the more dangerous for it. Our Mantle was passed on to ensure that you rose above such pettiness. It was ignored and forgotten, reduced to folklore and myth. And now you pay the price for such abuse of power. We watched as they squandered the sacred charge we gave them, and we watched as they sowed the seeds of their own destruction. It was a bitter harvest. We watched as they did what had to be done, finally understanding their charge; guardians of life, eternal sentinels safeguarding the galaxy. They fulfil their duty better in death than they did in life. But they overstepped their boundaries. The Mantle we gave them was not theirs to pass on. Their inheritors have been left an “empire” they have not earned. We cannot allow that. ARES TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED - UNABLE TO REESTABLISH CONTACT